Excuses, finger pointing and regret have shadowed those who’ve fought Edwin De Los Santos, but the Dominican is not interested in the blame game.
Welterweight De Los Santos, 17-2 (15 KOs), rematches former WBA 140-pound champion Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela, 15-3 (9 KOs), in the Zuffa Boxing main event of a card Sunday night on Paramount+ from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
De Los Santos, 26, knocked out Valenzuela in the third round of a 2022 Premier Boxing Champions show in Los Angeles, a triumph that Valenzuela said was the result of struggling back from leg surgery, disruptions in his camp and overconfidence.
“I feel bad if there were things going on with him or his camp,” De Los Santos told BoxingScene recently. “Everyone knows when they have a fight coming up, that they need to be ready, so you have to forget everything [distracting you] and just focus on that fight.
“After the excuses, everything comes out in the end.”
De Los Santos has dealt with his own health and boxing adversity since then, including losing a 2023 bout called one of the most boring in history versus unbeaten four-division champion Shakur Stevenson in November 2023.
“I’m going into this fight secure while [Valenzuela’s] coming in with those excuses,” De Los Santos said. “He’s saying he wasn’t prepared for that fight because he had things going on. I’m just prepared to win again this time.”
De Los Santos was out of the ring for more than two years following the Stevenson loss, with his former promoter Sampson Lewkowicz reporting De Los Santos suffered with a serious blood clot in his leg that required treatment and an abundance of rest.
He tried to return one year ago to fight then-lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis, but the unbeaten 2021 U.S. Olympic silver medalist Davis weighed in more than four pounds over the limit and Lewkowicz scrapped the bout, angering De Los Santos.
“[The layoff] affected me mentally because boxing is what I do best, it’s my main hobby,” De Los Santos said.
He took a low-profile homecoming bout in December and won by first-round knockout.
He then surveyed the sport’s landscape and decided Dana White and Nick Khan’s Zuffa Boxing was his best fit. The promotion has also signed WBC No. 1 welterweight contender Conor Benn and has negotiated with WBO 140-pound champion Stevenson.
“[Being active] was one of the inspirations that made me want to go with Zuffa. They keep us always fighting,” De Los Santos said. “I knew they were signing good fighters. Knowing I’m a good fighter, I knew there would be opportunities.”
Defeating Valenzuela again after the Mexico native defeated Diego Torres Nunez by unanimous decision on Zuffa’s February 1 card would propel De Los Santos toward a significant bout like his shot at Stevenson.
He says, “I blame [Stevenson] 100%” for the record-setting inactivity of that bout, vowing to prove he’s an all-action fighter by again chasing the knockout Sunday.
How would he treat a rematch with Stevenson?
“I can’t give out the plan because he would take advantage. But if it takes place, I can assure I’ll win and it might be by knockout,” De Los Santos said.
The intention is to move past the drama and establish himself as a force in the division.
When asked who ranks as Zuffa’s best welterweight, De Los Santos said, “I don’t like to say, but in a few fights, everyone will know.”
